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President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn said on Tuesday he knew lying to the FBI was a crime as he stood by his guilty plea in a case stemming from the investigation into possible collusion between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his conversations with Sergei Kislyak, Russia ambassador in Washington at the time. In a filing with the court, a lawyer for Flynn had noted that he was not warned during an FBI interview that lying would be a crime, but an attorney for Flynn told the court on Tuesday during a sentencing hearing that the retired lieutenant general was not entrapped.

The US lawmaker who led a delegation to New Mexico Tuesday to look into the death of a seven-year-old Guatemalan girl in US Border Patrol custody blamed the tragedy on glaring systematic failures. Jakelin Caal died last week in hospital in El Paso, Texas, after being arrested with her father and others crossing from Mexico December 6. "We learned today that (there was) some very disturbing systematic failure in how the young girl's condition was handled," Joaquin Castro, a Texas congressman and incoming chair of the Hispanic Caucus, told reporters on the border Tuesday in Lordsburg, New Mexico.

Lawyers for the family of a seven-year-old girl who died while in US Border Patrol custody say she did not suffer from a lack of food or water before authorities picked her up. US officials say she had not had anything to eat or drink for days. (Dec. 17)

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday rejected the U.S. claim that Russia developed a new cruise missile in violation of a key nuclear treaty, arguing that Russia has no need for such a land-based weapon because it already has similar missiles on its ships and aircraft.

In a television interview Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government was looking for a way to halt the sale of armored vehicles manufactured by a unit of U.S.-based General Dynamics Corp. “We are engaged with the export permits to try and see if there is a way of no longer exporting these vehicles to Saudi Arabia,” Trudeau told CTV, without elaborating. The company’s Canadian unit, in a written statement Monday, warned that doing so could leave the government on the hook for penalties.

Switzerland and Britain signed an agreement Monday guaranteeing that flights between the two countries can continue uninterrupted even if London opts to leave the European Union without a deal with Brussels. "We have managed to ensure a flawless transition, which is in the interest of both of our countries," Swiss Transportation Minister Doris Leuthard said in a statement after signing the deal in Zurich with her British counterpart Chris Grayling. Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but its relations with Britain are based on a long line of bilateral agreements between Bern and the bloc.

The prosecutors' office in Tijuana said in a statement it was investigating the deaths of the two youths, who showed signs of having been stabbed and strangled. The victims, who were staying at a shelter for migrant youths in Tijuana, were headed to another shelter when they were intercepted by people who apparently intended to rob them, it said. The incident did not appear to be related to organized crime, said Jorge Alvarez Mendoza, a prosecutor in Tijuana.

And it’s not just the White House that may make it tough to act on the intelligence community’s findings — the longstanding ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia complicate efforts to hold the kingdom accountable.

Shortly before a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl died in U.S. custody, her father signed a form stating that his daughter was in good health. But it's unclear how much the man understood on the form, which was written in English and read to him in Spanish by Border Patrol agents.

An Afghan peace negotiations team has arrived in Abu Dhabi, an official said Tuesday, a day after talks attended by US and Taliban representatives were held in the city aimed at ending the 17-year conflict. The team, led by chief negotiator Abdul Salam Rahimi, "arrived in Abu Dhabi to begin proximity dialogue with the Taliban delegation and to prepare for a face-to-face meeting between the two sides", the Afghan presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri tweeted. The 12-person team was first announced in November by President Ashraf Ghani as part of a diplomatic effort to bring the Taliban to the table for peace talks with the government in Kabul.

Donald Trump suffered a double setback on Tuesday as his former national security adviser Michael Flynn was accused of selling out his country in court and it emerged the president’s charity will be dissolved amid claims of “shocking” illegality. Mr Flynn, who has admitted to lying to the FBI over his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States, was reprimanded for his “very serious” offence during a sentencing hearing in Washington DC. In a blistering rebuke, Emmet Sullivan, a US District Judge, told to Mr Flynn that “arguably you sold your country out”, later adding: "I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain for this criminal offence." At one point the judge even asked prosecutors whether Mr Flynn’s actions could be considered treason, though later walked back the remarks by clarifying that he was not making that suggestion himself. Judge Sullivan also hinted that he was considering giving Mr Flynn a stint in jail despite his co-operation with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the Russian election meddling investigation – something that seemed unlikely at the start of the day, given Mr Mueller was calling for leniency. Donald Trump, left, and Michael Flynn during a presidential campaign event in September 2016 Credit: REUTERS/Mike Sega Eventually the judge delayed the sentencing, indicating that he wanted to fully understand the extent of Mr Flynn’s cooperation with Mr Mueller’s team. No new date was set but a status report is due on March 13 2019. The courtroom dressing down was another blow for Mr Flynn, a retired US general who became one of Mr Trump’s most prominent supporters during the 2016 presidential campaign. He was handed the plum role of Mr Trump’s first national security adviser in January 2017 but was forced to resign just weeks later over his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, then Russian ambassador to the US. Mr Flynn has admitted to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with Mr Kislyak during the transition period after Mr Trump’s November 2016 election victory but before he took office. During that time Barack Obama remained US president. Mr Trump had wished Mr Flynn "good luck" earlier in the day. "Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him," he said in a tweet. On the same day Mr Flynn was being criticised in court there were new developments in a lawsuit filed against the president’s charity, the Trump Foundation. Barbara Underwood, the New York attorney general, announced that the Trump Foundation had agreed it should be dissolved and its remaining funds handed out to other charities, with her office overseeing the process. The deal needs to be approved by a federal judge. It follows a string of Washington Post stories in recent years claiming that money from the charity had been used to pay legal settlements for Mr Trump’s private business or purchase art from his clubs. Mr Trump has always denied wrongdoing. Michael Flynn, former US national security adviser, exits at federal court in Washington, DC Credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Bloomberg He had planned to close down the embattled charity in December 2016 after he won the US election but the move was put on hold pending this investigation. Mrs Underwood's office begun legal action in June against Mr Trump, his three children - who were on the board - and the charity itself, over accusations of misuse of funds. She said on Tuesday that her investigation found “a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation — including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more.” Mrs Underwood is continuing to seek more than $2.8 million (£2.2m) in restitution and has asked a judge to ban the Trumps temporarily from serving on the boards of other New York nonprofit organisations.

The percentage of high school seniors who used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days nearly doubled to 20.9 percent from last year, results of a survey released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed on Monday. The increase in vaping by 10th and 12th graders was the largest year-over-year jump for any substance ever measured by the survey, which started 44 years ago.

With interest in vegan lifestyles growing, both specialist and mainstream beauty brands have a selection of gifts out this holiday for anyone committed to excluding animal-based products and shunning animal testing. Here's a look at some of the 100% vegan gift sets out this year.

Russia has cut its military flights in Syria from more than 100 per day to fewer than four a week, the defence minister said Tuesday, in another sign the country's conflict is winding down. Russia launched air strikes in Syria in support of long-term ally President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015. Russian support helped Assad's forces reclaim swathes of territory once in the hands of opposition fighters and Islamic extremists.

Guatemalan children caught in Mexico while trying to migrate into the US, queue before climbing into a minibus at Aurora international airport in Guatemala City. For years, Dora waited impatiently to turn 15, the age her mother had agreed she would be old enough to leave their home in El Salvador – where she suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather – and head to the US, in search of a new life. “Seeing them leave together … that gave me hope and gave me the courage to finally leave,” said Dora, who is now living at a children’s shelter in Tijuana, on the border with California.

Russia's Ministry of Defence said it planned to shift troops next week into four housing complexes on two of the four disputed islands, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan. Japan's defense ministry says 3,500 Russian troops are deployed on the two larger islands as part of a military buildup. The news came after the Kremlin said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might visit Russia on Jan. 21 as the two countries step up efforts to defuse the territorial dispute that has prevented them from signing a World War Two peace treaty.

Canada is looking into ways to cancel a giant 2014 weapons deal with Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday, as criticism mounts over the kingdom's role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Riyadh-led war in Yemen. "The murder of a journalist is absolutely unacceptable and that's why Canada from the very beginning had been demanding answers and solutions on that," Trudeau said Sunday in an interview with CTV. "We inherited actually a (Can)$15 billion contract signed by (former prime minister) Stephen Harper to export light-armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia," he said.

British Airways will resume flights to Pakistan next year after a 10-year absence following an Islamist militant truck bomb that killed more than 50 people at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. As Pascale Davies reports, BA will be the first Western carrier to restart flying to Pakistan.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — In a story Dec. 13 about the pope's May travel schedule, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Bulgaria is a former Soviet republic. During the Cold War, Bulgaria was one of the Soviet allies that formed the Warsaw Pact.

New Zealand warned Google to "take responsibility" for its news content Wednesday, after the internet giant broke a court order suppressing the name of a man charged with murdering a British backpacker. An Auckland court granted the man interim name suppression this month but Google revealed his identity in an email to subscribers of its "what's trending in New Zealand?" service. Justice Minister Andrew Little said the breach was unacceptable and he had made his views known to Google executives at a meeting in parliament on Tuesday night.

Bankrupt U.S. retailer Sears Holdings Corp will take a charge of about $443 million arising from store closures, a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday. Total costs related to closing 73 Sears stores and 28 Kmart stores in the third quarter ended Nov. 3 amounted to $229 million, the company said earlier this month. The charges entail markdowns, severance costs and lease termination costs arising from store closures, which the company announced in October, when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Instant Pot DUO80 8 Qt 7-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker is the largest version of Instant Pot's most popular pressure cooker, and it costs a hefty $140. It was on sale last week at a $40 discount though, which was a great deal that many of our readers took advantage of. Don't worry if you missed it though, because it turns out you're in luck. Why? Because it's on sale right now with an even bigger $50 discount! And if you don't need all that capacity, the smaller Instant Pot DUO Mini is also on sale right now for just $59.99.
Here's what you need to know from the product page:
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After his office said first that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would propose a no-confidence motion in May -- and then said that he didn’t need to because she’d announced a date for a vote -- he has now said he’ll propose such a motion immediately. This is a motion of no confidence in May, not in her government, so it’s not the type that could potentially trigger a general election. For that reason it has a greater chance of passing, as some Conservatives opposed to May’s Brexit strategy might vote for it.

Jesuit authorities for 20 US states on Monday released the names of 89 priests with credible allegations of child sexual abuse dating as far back as 1950. The disclosures by the Jesuit provinces of Maryland and USA Midwest are the latest chapter in the ongoing sexual abuse scandal roiling the Catholic Church and come after 153 Jesuits were publicly identified by two other provinces earlier this month. "On behalf of the Midwest Jesuits, I apologize to victim-survivors and their families for the harm and suffering you have endured.

Ford is taking its Active Noise Control tech out of the car and into a kennel prototype to create a safe place for pets while we celebrate the New Year with fireworks. To kick off Ford's new series of initiatives -- called Interventions -- that apply automotive tech to non-automotive applications, the company unveiled a prototype of a new Quiet Kennel, a place where dogs and their ultra-sensitive hearing can be safe and feel at ease when fireworks or thunder starts sounding. Nearly half of dogs in the UK show signs of fear upon hearing fireworks, the sounds of which can be difficult to muffle even inside a home.